Safety device for skis



March 30, 1954 s. GOULD SAFETY DEVICE FOR SKIS Filed Nov. 20. 1950 2Sheets-Sheet l A T TORNE y,

March 30, 1954 Q s. GOULD SAFETY DEVICE FOR SKIS 2 sheets-sheet 2 FiledNov. 20, 1950 IN V EN TOR. 60 UL 0 JITTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY DEVICE FORSKIS Samuel Gould, Lennox, Calif.

Application November 20, 1950, Serial No. 196,674

3 Claims. (01. 280-1135) This is a sporting goods invention and relatesespecially to safety means for skis and the like and is related toapplicants copending application Serial Number 154,991, filed April 10,1950, now Fatent No. 2,618,487; issued November 18, 1952.

This invention employs means for automatically releasing a skiers shoefrom the ski when a certain pressure is exerted forwardly by the shoewith respect to the ski so that when the ski is stopped by some hazard,or its speed suddenly arrested by digging into soft snow, the shoe isautomatically released so as to avoid injuring or breaking the skiersleg. Skiers travel at high speeds and sometimes at the rate of fiftymiles per hour. At high speeds, skiers are fearful of breaking theirlegs when their forward motion is abruptly arrested by their skis toeinginto unexpected soft snow.

The principal objects of the invention is to provide safety means toautomatically release the shoes of skiers from their respective skis andto employ devices that are simple, durable and compact in structure andthat are inexpensive to make and manufacture.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will appearfrom a careful perusal of the accompanying drawings and other portionsof this application.

Below, applicant describes one or more of the preferable forms of thisinvention in order to teach the art of making and using the same, but itis to be understood that the drawings and illustrations and descriptionsper se are not to limit the invention in any sense whatsoever except asthe same may be limited by the discovered prior art. Language employedherein is not to be construed as giving any unauthorized person ororganization the right to make, use and/or sell the invention hereindisclosed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the invention as applied toa ski and the skiers shoe thereon; parts being broken away and thedotted lines indicating another position of the skiers foot and shoe;

Figure 2 is a plan view of that shown in Fig ure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal plan view, parts in section, and enlarged,showing a safety release device;

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the release device;

Figure 5 is an elevational partial view of one side of the device shownin Figure 4 illustrating the device in release action;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the opposite side of the device asshown in Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line ofFigure 4;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the release device;

Figure 9 is a sectional view, parts broken away, taken substantiallyalong the line 9-9 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a partly sectional and partly elevational View showing therelease device in working position;

Figure 11 is an elevational view of a modified form of the invention;

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken substantial- 1y along the linel2--l2 of Figure 11.

The preferred form of the invention shows a typical portion of a ski lwhich has a means for attaching a skiers shoe 2 thereto. An adjustabletoe plate 3 is screwed or otherwise firmly fixed to the ski, this platehaving the usual side clamps 5 and 4 integral therewith and which formsnothing new in the art. Forwardly of the toe plate there is anadjustable means for holding the forward ends of the side cables 6 andI, and this means comprises the fixed elongated plate 8 with variousslots or catches to allow the cable coupling bracket 9 to be properlypositioned and fixed with reference to the ski. This bracket has thepivot pin 10' and a cross headed pin In which is on the lever 8', theopposite ends of the pin having a firm connection to the ends of thestrong springs II and I2. The cables 6 and l are secured to the otherends of these springs and the cables are kept in position along thesides of the ski by the fixed guides I3 and I4. All the foregoing partsare old in the art and no claim is made thereto except as in combinationwith the devices of this invention.

Cable grooves I5 and 16 are generally provided in regular skiing shoesfor the obvious purpose of preventing slippage from position andloosening of the cable, and so far as known, but a single cable is nowemployed in the well known shoe anchoring devices, but in applicantsinvention, the single cable is converted into a pair of cables 6 and 1and the rear ends thereof each provided with a hook as indicated at I!and I8 respectively. Adjustable terminal ends I9 and 20 are provided forthe cables and hooks, as shown, and the hooks are connected to theirrespective release arms 44 and 45 of the device of this invention. Notethat the upper ends of these arms are turned inwardly toward each otherso that the hooks of the cables will not accidently be released. Thearms 44 and 45 are parts of the unit 46 which will now be explained indetail.

The safety unit 46 has the main support cross bar 41 to which the armsare pivoted as by the pivot rivets 48 and 49 and each arm has itsrespective stop pin or 51 so that the arms in normal position will bepositioned as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, but when the arms are released,these stop pins can passaround the very ends of the cross bar 47. Thelower ends of the-release arms 44 and have the oifcenter pivot rivets 52and 53 respectively which pivotally support the pair of tong-like links54 and 55 which are pivoted together at their near ends by the pivotrivet 55. The hole for the rivet 56 is large so as to accommodate thespiral spring 5'! which acts as a bearing for the pivot rivet 56; theends of the spring being anchored, as shown, so that the link members 54and 55 will return to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 6 when not undertension. A yoke 58 has its legs pivoted to the pivot rivet 56, see Fig.10, and it is coupled to one end of a chain 59 and the other end of thischain is held to the screw 60. This screw is fastened to the ski and thechain is of a predetermined length which limits the upward motion of theskiers boot without releasing the boot from the ski, but should theupward force of the boot be great enough to overcome the force of thespring 51 and the mechanical frictional lock means because of theposition of the links 54 and 55, then the arms 44 and 45 will bereleased so as to free the cables 6 and i and thus free the boot fromthe ski and in this manner prevent injury to the leg of the skier.

The modified form of the invention as shown in Figs. 11 and 12,comprises the pair of release arms iii and G2 which have their topportions swaged to bring the hook portions into alinement since thesearms are pivoted together, side by side, at the base thereof, asindicated at 53. The rivet pin 53 is elongated and extends through theslots 54 and 65 of the pair of spaced plates 66 and 51, respectively.The headed pivot pin 63 is designed to work within the slots 54 and 65,and the tension springs 68 and 69, as shown, are attached to the ends ofthe pivot pins and also to the ends of the lower cross pin 10 so as toconstantly urge the pivot pin downwardly. The plates are held in properspaced relationship by the rivet means I! and '12 with their rollerspacers. The lower ends of the arms 6i and 62 have their outer cornerscut away so as to fit somewhat snugly between the roller spacers andthis means acts as a lock in that the upper portions of the arms cannotspread apart so as to release the cables 5 and 1 until the arms workupwardly and the pivot pin 63 rides upwardly in the slots 65 and 55;upon this event, the arms spread apart as shown in dotted lines in Fig.11. The chain 5t that is fastened at one end thereof to the ski i, iscoupled to the cross pin 10, as shown. I

It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications maybe made in the details of form, style, design, and construction of thewhole or any part of the specifically described embodiment of thisinvention without departing from the spirit thereof in that such changesand modi- 4 fications are considered as being within the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a safety device for automatically releasing a skiers shoe from itsski upon a certain forward force; the device having a main support barwhich is normally in a horizontal position and a pair of spaced apartupwardly extending arms having their central portions pivoted to theends of the bar, the tops of the arms having toedin portions which areadapted to securely hold the ends of cables when the arms areunreleased, a pair of alined links at the bottom of the device havingtheir near ends pivoted together and their outer ends pivoted to theirrespective arms near the bottom ends thereof, and a flexible cablehaving one end attached to the pivot point at the near ends of the armsand extending to a ski and attached thereto, a coiled spring, the pivotpoint consisting of a rivet with its heads spaced from the sides of thelinks, the rivet passing through an enlarged bore in the near ends ofthe link and also through the bore of the coiled spring which is withinthe enlarged bore, the ends of the spring being extended and attached atthe said links so that when the links are forced out of alinement, thespring urges them back into alinement.

2. In a safety device for automatically releasing a skiers shoe from itsski; the device having a cross bar which is the main support and whichis substantially horizontally arranged when in normal position, a pairof spaced apart upwardly directed arms having central portions which arepivoted at the ends of the cross bar, the arms having tops which areformed to receive opposed cable ends, a pair of alined links at thebottom of the device, said links having their near ends overlapping andjoined together by a pivot pin and their far ends pivoted to lowerportions of the said arms, and means connecting a chain to the pivot pinand the chains other end adapted to be fixed to a portion of a ski, acoiled spring, the near ends of the links having a common bore intowhich the pivot pin is accommodated, said bore being enlarged toaccommodate the coiled spring around the pivot pin, the ends of thecoiled spring being fixed to said links so that when the links areforced out 0f alinement, the spring urges them back into alinement.

3. The safety device recited in claim 2 wherein th pivot pin is providedwith a sleeve type of spring wire having its ends fixed to the links soas to constantly urge the links into alinement, as aforesaid.

SAMUEL GOULD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,024,222 Hinchman Dec. 17, 1935 2,368,671 Lombard Feb. 6,1915 2,517,486 Hewitt Aug. 1, 1950 2,534,704 Frieder et a1. Dec. 19,1950 r FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 45,008 Sweden Jan. 29, 1919843,364 France Mar. 27, 1939

